First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 953,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 129,214 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $9,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 36.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 171,608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 45,944 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,471,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,201,000 after purchasing an additional 132,692 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,485 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,130,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,899,000 after purchasing an additional 477,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $357,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GPK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $13.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $11.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey Stafeil acquired 17,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.19 per share, for a total transaction of $200,054.82. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,878 shares in the company, valued at $200,054.82. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 1.6%

GPK opened at $10.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.15. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 52 week low of $8.78 and a 52 week high of $23.47. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.03. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 3.17%.The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-1.150 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 47.83%.

Graphic Packaging Company Profile

Graphic Packaging Holding Company is a leading provider of sustainable paperboard packaging solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed for food, beverage and other consumer goods markets. The company specializes in the manufacture of containerboard, folding cartons and engineered fill materials, as well as beverage packaging systems including paperboard cups, carriers and related components.

Through a network of manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe and Latin America, Graphic Packaging serves a diverse customer base that includes major consumer packaged goods companies, quick-service restaurants and retail chains.